Featured word: 2015

Today is the first blank page of a 365 page book, make it a great read!

I made this jar this year to sit back and read on New Years Eve to remind me of all the good things that happened this year, big and small from someone making me laugh when all I wanted to do was cry to attending the wild card playoffs.  

This was probably one of the best things I could do for myself.  When we are going through the dredges of life with lots of peaks and valleys we either focus on those valleys or those peaks and forget about those day to day things that also leave us feeling elated.  Ask anyone what happened to them this year and they are going to play the highlight reel for you and for them it may be some big valleys with a few peaks.  They may forget that person who paid for their coffee one day in a drive thru or that person who went out of their way to tell you how beautiful your smile was and it made their day.  I don't think this is uncommon because we can't possibly remember all the day to day things that happen to us but on that day when that person did that wonderful act it made you walk a little taller, smiler a little brighter and feel dare we say loved or admired.  

I, like most of you, had my challenges for 2015.  Health, wealth and happiness wasn't always there which is what we always want for ourselves and everyone else.  I struggle with some heart issues that I am still working on and it wasn't until I tried to finish a half ironman that I realized they were there.  All I could do was cry for awhile after that "defeat" but then I had to think about how thankful I am that it was a warning and not my expiration because it could have been and now I get the chance to correct it and then go back to claim my medal!  And on a side note I met a local trainer who heard my story and has offered to help train me at no cost to me so who's the winner here?  

Being a single mom wealth is always going to be an uphill/downhill battle but honestly I can't complain because I haven't suffered at all and after going through that jar it was just another reminder of all the wonderful experiences I got to partake in this year.  These experiences ranged from going to FL at the beginning of the year and leaving at 6:00 am to make it to the playoff game in Charlotte, paddle boarding in one of the most beautiful springs, traveling to attempt a half ironman with a big part of my family, attending multiple football games (Panther and Tarheel), Tarheel basketball game, NASCAR, Hornets games, hockey games, to chilling at the white water center on a paddle board, dinners, and intimate gatherings with some great friends.  I DID NOT SUFFER FROM NOT BEING FINANCIALLY WEALTHY, actually I prospered from being wealthy in so many other ways.

As for happiness, I feel like this is a state of mind.  There is no way anyone can be happy all the time and if you are then I am convinced your doctor has you on some of the most powerful medication of all time.  How can you even feel happiness if you have never experienced depression, isolation, loneliness?  There are experiences that are going to give you all of those feelings in one and let me share one example.  This Christmas morning we got up and went to the Ronald McDonald House to cook breakfast for the families that had to spend their Christmas there.  The range of emotions that I went through that morning went from complete and total happiness to a deep dark place where I needed to address a memory I had suppressed.  Ultimately happiness won because my heart was filled with joy giving those families a little something.  

Happy New Year my friends.  May your 2016 be filled with good health, enough wealth so you don't have to stress and all the happiness you deserve. 

Peace, love and happiness,

Dawn